Heroes of the Storm Blizzcon 2018 Standings

It’s been a big year for Heroes of the Storm esports and the Global  Championship. As Blizzcon 2018 swiftly approaches, the dominant teams from North American and Europe are looking to potentially take down the South Korean champs. It’s been a long time coming, but multiple teams have a chance at taking the crown this year. So let’s take a closer look at what to expect in our HGC Blizzcon standings and preview for Heroes of the Storm.

North America

The Americans generally don’t do well at Blizzcon, but this year could be different. HeroesHearth Esports has been on a tear all year, currently boasting a record of 11-1. Their only loss was a close match against Tempo Storm, the second seed in NA. But NA has not been strong on the world stage this year, as HeroesHearth only won a single set at Western Clash, losing 0-2 to Leftovers in the upper bracket, before defeating Team Liquid 2-0, and eventually dropping 0-3 to Method in the lower bracket.

If the NA teams can’t even hang in the Western Clash against Europe, their chances at Blizzcon are looking slim. Hopefully the Western Clash opened some eyes and we’ll see a better LAN performance leading up to and including Blizzcon. It’s a rough road ahead, but the NA are capable of a much better showing than we’ve seen from them in the past.

Europe

In the EU things are looking a bit better. Team Dignitas is undefeated in league play with a current record of 12-0. They also won the Western Clash in convincing fashion, not dropping a single set. However, when you’re dominating that much it’s difficult to improve. The best way to improve is generally to play against a superior opponent, and right now Dignitas doesn’t have that luxury among the EU and NA teams.

The number two team in EU is Team Liquid, but they’re going to have to step up if they want to compete, or even make it to the HGC finals at Blizzcon. While the team has performed well among in regional competition, at Western Clash they lost 1-2 to Team Freedom and 0-2 to HeroesHearth. That doesn’t allow for much confidence heading into Blizzcon, but with several weeks left to go there’s still plenty of time to turn things around.

Korea

The powerhouse continues to reign supreme as Gen.G (formerly MVP Black) and Ballistix sit atop of the HGC. Blizzcon 2017 champions, Gen.G have no slowed down at all in the past year. The team currently holds the top spot in Korea with a record of 9-2, losing only to Miracle and Ballistix. They won the Eastern Clash and are currently the team to beat when it comes to the HGC finals at Blizzcon.

Ballistix is doing almost as well, with a record of 8-3 in league play and a second place finish at the Eastern Clash. While the team has shown they’re capable of defeating Gen.G, it’s not an easy hill to climb. The real question is how well they fend off the other regions at Blizzcon. There are some questions about teams from other regions taking down Gen.G, but Ballistix isn’t quite as untouchable.

China

Coming out of China we’re likely to see BTG and TheOne making it into the running for Blizzcon. Both teams have struggled against Korea and will likely have a tough time against Team Dignitas and some of the other top teams from around the globe. Both teams lost in the first round of the Eastern Clash, and ended up facing off against each other in the lower bracket during the second round. BTG won that clash, but it was only one of two Chinese wins at the event. The other win belonged to SPT, who bested Chinese team CE in the lower bracket, before falling to Ballistix.

As you can see, Gen.G and South Korea are definitely the favorites heading into Blizzcon. There’s still time for a little bit of shake up, but what we’ve detailed here is most likely how things will fall. It will be up to Team Dignitas to prove they can hang with the Koreans, with Ballistix trying to prove they have what it takes to bring down the rest of the world and Gen.G.

Stay tuned to Prima Games as we’ll have more on HGC at Blizzcon later next month!